Open letter to the minister of Tourism

My wife, my two kids and I have had the pleasure to stay four times on holidays since 1999 in this wonderful isle of Mauritius. We enjoy the quality of living there, and appreciate also the hard work being done by all the community to welcome us.

During out last stay (last week), we decided to take a boat to see a popular attraction : the dolphins in the bay of Tamarin.

What we discovered there is simply a wild hunting of poor dolphins, with 15 to 20 motorboats driving around them trying to drop their people in the water as close as possible of the dolphins. Some of the boats even used their engine to drive the dolphins in the direction of their tourists in the water. These animals that need to rest during the day are constantly chased away by a hound of motorboats.

Further, with all this crowd of motorboats and swimmers crossing each other around the dolphins, surely one boat will soon hurt badly one of the tourists trying to swim with dolphins. It is really dangerous for the swimmers, and so sad for the dolphins.

We were all horrified by the show and left quickly the place with a very sad feeling.What is happening there is not worthy of Mauritius or any civilized country. All around the world dolphins are being protected and respected. It is deeply important that Mauritius organises properly the visit of the dolphins in the bay of Tamarin. We hope that you?ll take the good decisions very soon, to protect both the dolphins of the bay of Tamarin and the people who love them and want to see them safely and quietly.

Laurence & Jean-Paul BRUNOT